There are systems where different types of sensor units, such as different sorts of camera heads, microphones etc., may be connected to a main unit. For example, the main unit may have a number of ports where sensor units may be connected. Typically, for space efficiency reasons, the sensor units of these kind of systems have no or minimal processing capability. Instead, the main unit possesses processing capability in order to, for instance, control the acquisition of sensor data, and process the resulting sensor data. Since the hardware and functionality of the different types of sensor units may differ, different settings are typically required for the control of the sensor units and the processing of the sensor data.
A problem which arises in such systems is how to enable a sensor unit to be connected to the main unit and start working immediately without the need for rebooting the main unit. This would for example enable a camera head of a first type to be replaced by another camera head of a second type without adding extra time for reconfiguration of the main unit.
This problem is addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,466,974, which discloses to store a file in the main unit with data sets, including identification data and configuration data, associated with multiple types of image sensors. As a sensor unit is connected to the main unit, an identifier of the sensor unit is compared with the identification data of the data sets, and if a match is found the main unit uses configuration data of the matching data set in relation to the sensor unit. If no match is found, the file may be updated with a new data set corresponding to the sensor unit.
As long as there is a matching data set, the method of U.S. Pat. No. 8,466,974 thus enables the sensor unit to start working immediately upon connection. However, when there is no matching data set, for instance when a new type of sensor unit has been launched after the latest firmware update of the main unit or if a firmware version including data sets for the type of new sensor unit has not yet been released, the main unit has to be updated with new data which may be a tedious procedure. There is thus a need for a method which enables immediate operation of a sensor unit although there is no corresponding data set stored in the main unit.